Enhance Efficiency

Spring 2016

Enhance Efficiency - Special Delivery

David Jinks MILT – Head of Public Relations at courier cost comparison site ParcelHero – says Britain’s businesses should prepare themselves for the Uberfication of their deliveries

In April 2014 Josh Mohrer, general manager of Uber in New York launched its new UberRUSH service: he explained the thinking behind its new delivery service succinctly: 'It's an Uber for things.

‘With UberRUSH, your packages travel like a VIP. You get fast messenger pickups and immediate deliveries of the things you need to send,' the firm said.

During 2015 UberRUSH showed its potential for rapid evolution. In New York it remains a courier service largely delivered by people by bike or on foot, but has added a business-to-customer (B2C) option to its services. And UberRUSH has also rapidly expanded, as a vehicle-based delivery service, into San Francisco and Chicago: delivering items from retailers to customers.

As Uber’s founder Travis Kalanick explained in a speech marking the fifth anniversary of Uber in June 2015: ‘Imagine a city where you can choose to live or start a business anywhere you want, because transportation to and from will always be one tap away. And in a world where technology can deliver the ride you need within five minutes wherever you are in the world, just imagine all the other goods and services that you could one day get delivered quickly, safely, with just the single touch of a button.’

Winter 2015

Is cash dead?

David Jinks is Head of Public Relations at courier cost comparison site ParcelHero

With the arrival of Apple Pay and the launch of the game-changing Samsung Pay App, small retailers will count the cost of not adopting new payment methods in their store or on their website.

The time will soon come when most consumers head to the shops without even a humble fiver in their wallet or purse. Shoppers love the ease and traceability of paying by card or electronically, and very soon even the faithful chip and pin system will be seen as too time-consuming. SMEs and start-ups need to keep on top of changing trends to ensure they are not left behind in the build-up to Christmas.

Autumn 2015

Delivering the goods

Jeff Taylor – Regional Director UK and Ireland for Honeywell Scanning & Mobility – looks at how fulfilling your customers’ delivery expectations can help your business run more smoothly

More and more UK consumers are turning to shopping online to make their purchases and they increasingly expect retailers to provide more convenient delivery options to accommodate their busy schedules. In fact, the three-hour delivery window has now become a standard expectation amongst the majority of UK shoppers, according to new research* carried out by Ipsos Research on behalf of Honeywell.

The survey found that almost all of the 800 adults surveyed (99%) expected a delivery to arrive within one week of ordering, but the majority of respondents (53%) now expect the estimated time of delivery to be within three hours or less. Two-fifths (40%) of consumers said they would be willing to pay extra for the ‘perfect delivery’, in which they designate exactly where and when their parcel will be delivered. But for small, independent health store retailers, such a short delivery window can be hard to achieve. How can you keep up in this important area?

Spring 2015

Take control of your supply chain

Jonathan Kent explains how some simple steps can help you to plan better, sell more and waste less.

Running a health food shop in an era when the big supermarkets dominate is a constant challenge. I should know because my parents were founder members of the lovely Wealden Wholefoods co-operative in the East Sussex village of Wadhurst. It celebrates its 30th anniversary this July and is still going strong.

These days I work with RELEX, a Finnish company that makes supply chain management systems. Its motto is ‘plan better, sell more, waste less.’ It helps clients across Europe do just that, including many food retailers and wholesalers including the North West regional supermarket chain Booths and the bulk retailer JJ Food Service Ltd. in the UK.